Postcard Love

I don't think I ever wrote about my love for postcards and postcrossing ventures here. They bring such warm memories. :) I used to eagerly wait for the postman every afternoon. After lunch, and again in the evening I would race downstairs to check mails. And, my joy would know no bounds once I saw some familiar colourful rectangular cards. I would squeal and squeak with delight. I loved reading what the senders wrote to me. Usually, about their lives, their towns, or their love for art history like mine. Every single card with its thickness and the postage stamps brought indescribable happiness to me. Those days I was going through some depressing and stressful times, on academic and professional front as well. These cards perked me up and gave me a reason to believe in kindness and the thirst for human relations across the seas and oceans, across continents.

I received many cards from Germany and Russia and each one of them was so thoughtful and carefully picked for me. It made me feel cared even though these cards were from strangers. That was the beauty of postcrossing. Writing to strangers across the world and developing a kinship with them without any blood ties. My belief in goodness increased furthermore after I started postcrossing. Cards from faraway countries like Latvia, Czech Republic, Belgium, Netherlands, Poland, England, Belarus, Lithuania, Ukraine, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Philippines made me so happy!

I don't remember how it all stopped. It just happened, unconsciously. I started new academic and professional projects and postcrossing took a backseat. Also, the fact that the post office in my little town is not as efficient as in other cities or countries played a role too. Today morning, I came across these cards wrapped carefully in a cloth bag stuffed in my wardrobe. I don't remember how it got there. I took them out, all of them and read each one of them and tried to remember my first reaction of receiving them. It filled my heart with happiness and also lots of warmth at this unexpected travel back into time. I am starting it again. It was in October that I sent my first card years ago, and in October this year, that is in a few days, I will do it again...